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Petplan Fights Animal Obesity With UK's First Petometer

Author: Petplan
Posted: Thursday 5th January, 2006. 00:00:00

Revolutionary step device could save Britain ’s paunchy pooches.

Petplan, the UK’s leading pet insurance provider is launching the UK’s first ‘Petometer’ – a device which measures the number of steps taken each day by a dog – in a bid to help tackle the obesity epidemic that’s sweeping through the nation’s canine population.

Obesity is slowly but surely ruining the lives of many of the nation’s pets with 41% [1]now considered to be overweight or obese.

As with humans, being overweight can have severe consequences for a pet and is a contributory factor to life-threatening conditions such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease and liver problems as well as osteoarthritis and cruciate ligament ruptures. In 2004, Petplan paid out over £7 million on conditions that can be aggravated by obesity.

The Petplan Petometer is the first device of its kind to count accurately the number of steps a dog takes every day. Attached unobtrusively to the dog’s collar it uses an electronic sensor to record the movement of the front legs.

Giving paunchy pooches a helping hand in the battle of the bulge, and enabling pet owners to monitor their dogs’ exercise routine, Petplan has also compiled a Petsercise Programme. Taking the UK’s most popular breeds in turn, the Petsercise Programme advises how many steps each breed should be taking per day.


BREED
RECOMMENDED NO. OF STEPS

1.
German Shepherd
23,000 – 25,000

2.
Golden Retriever
18,000 – 25,000

3.
Labrador Retriever
20,000 – 25,000

4.
West Highland White
20,000 – 22,000

5.
Cocker Spaniel
25,000 – 27,000

6.
Boxer
30,000 plus

7.
Cavalier King Charles Spaniel
15,000 – 20,000

8.
Yorkshire Terrier
16,000 – 18,000

9.
Staffordshire Bull Terrier
30,000

10.
Springer Spaniel
25,000 – 30,000



Petplan veterinary consultant and TV vet Scott Miller comments: “Obesity is becoming a huge problem for our pets – and it is pet owners who are to blame. It’s a direct result of lack of exercise and poor diets. We hope the new Petplan Petometer will give pet owners the wake-up call that’s required to begin sensible exercise regimes for their dogs.”

The Petplan Petometer is available exclusively from www.petplan.co.uk/petometer and costs £4.99. A full version of the Petplan Petsercise Programme can also be downloaded at www.Petplan.co.uk/petometer

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